Bag filling device



y 1939- J. J. NEUMAN ET AL 2,159,858

BAG FILLING- DEVICE Filed Aug. 5, 1937 s Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTORJ' Z 6 M I fl Ezzma/a y 1939- J. J. NEUMAN ET AL 2,159,858

BAG FILLING DEVICE Filed Au 5, 19:57 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllllfll @r/JYGIQ @IZwma By 140/ NEW y 23, 1939- J. J. NEUMAN ET AL 2, ,8 8

BAG FILLING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 5, 1957 Patented May 23, 1939 UNITED STATES BAG FILLING DEVICE Jacob J. N euman, Jamaica, and Harry G. Ncuman, Yorktown Heights, N. Y.

Application August 5, 1937, Serial Not-157,480

3 Claims.

This invention relates to'automatic packing and weighing apparatus, and is an improvement over the bag-holding means embodied in U. S.

' Patent No. 1,823,283.

It is one of the objects of our invention to provide a simple, reliable, and yet quick acting means for firmly holding a flexible container wall at the open end thereof in an expanded condition for the feeding of the material into the container,

and also to provide means for vibrating the container or shaking the same and its contents for the purpose of compacting the material during the filling operation subsequent to removal from the filling means.

In the past considerable difficulty has been experienced in quickly forming the mouth of a flexible container for sewing or other sealing operation subsequent to the filling operation due to the distended condition of the filled container.

It is therefore an additional object of the invention to provide means for firmly holding the open mouth of the container in such a position during the filling operation that a predetermined amount of material may be received in a container of material of a small container or the holding of a large container with insufficient pressure to permit the vibrating thereof.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

Similar characters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the accompanying drawings:

V Figure 1 is a fragmentary side element of a portion of the bag filling machine having a bag holding and operating means therefor;

Figure'2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2 showing the arrangement of the air passages in the air control valve;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of the air control valve showing the direction of the fi'ow of air when the left hand pedal, shown in Fig. 2, is depressed;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the direction of the flow of air when the right hand pedal shown in Fig. 2, is depressed;

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail side elevation,

partlycut away,-of the bag holding means show- 5 ing a bag in applied position;

Figure '7 is a sectional view of an alternate embodiment of the means for regulating pressure in the air supply tank illustrated in Fig. 1;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary side elevation show- 10 ing an alternate embodiment of the means for clamping the container to the bag holding means;

Figure 9 is a detail side elevation partly cut away, and showing another embodiment of the invention with means for weighing; and an arw rangement for manual operation of the holding means; and

Figure 10 is a horizontal section taken on the line Ill-40 of Figure 9.

Referring to the drawings, and more particu- 20 larly to Figs. 1 to 6, a suitable hopper designated by the reference character In receives a commodity of a granulated or comminuted nature and feeds it into flexible containers such as bags or sacks one of which is indicated in dotted lines at B in Fig. l; A horizontally positioned frame H having opposite side members 52 and i3, is fulcrumed at Ma to the vertically disposed bars M, which are suitably fixed at their upper ends to ceiling beams or similar stationary structure. 30

At the end of frame H, cross bar It extends between the side members and it of the frame II. To the bar It, there is fulcrumed a rod H5. The upper end of the rod i5 is fastened to a suitable means for vertically oscillating the 5 frame I l. Means for this purpose are shown and described in the above identified patent, and form no part of this invention.

Halves l1 and E8 of a split sleeve, generally designated by the numeral l9, comprise a chan- 40 nel or duct through which material passes from the hopper structure ill to the container B, said hopper structure being positioned above and extending into the split sleeve IS. The halves l! and I8 of the split sleeve ll 9 form the bag support- 45 ing and expanding structure and have shoes or side plates 20 and 25 secured thereto, said shoes engaging for longitudinal motion thereon, auxiliary side members 22 and 23 which form a guide or channel and are suitably fastened to the side 50 members l2 and I3. At the lower extremities of the members I? and Hi there are secured yieldable headings comprising the bodies 24 and 25. The hopper II] has a flexible rubber tube clamped about its lower extremity by a suitable 55 means such as the strap BI. The lower edge of the tube 89 is turned up around the beading 24 and 25 at the lower portion of the split sleeve l9 and suitably secured thereto as by cement or other adhesive to form an air tight joint. Due to its flexible nature, the tube 80 is adapted to stretch when the halves of the split sleeve I9 are separated to clamp a container thereon and forms an air tight yet flexible connection or duct between the hopper I and the container B and thereby prevents the loss of any material. This is especially advantageous in the handling of finely divided material such as powdered sugar, flour, or cement.

Fulcrumed between the lugs 26 of the members II and I8 are the sack clamping members 21 and 28 having secured thereto the yieldable cushion portions or pads 29 and 30. The sack clamping member 2I is pin connected at its upper extremity to the rod III, the opposite end of which is ad-' justably secured to the transverse cross member 32 of the frame I I. The sack clamping member 28 is pin connected to the rod 33, the opposite end of said rod 33 being connected to the reciprocating piston 36 in the cylinder 35. The cylinder 35 is supported by the transverse members 36 extending across the frame members I2 and I3 and secured thereto. In the head 31 of the air cylinder 35 is a needle valve 38, which forms an adjustment for the speed of action of the piston 34 by controlling the back pressure in the cylinder 35.

Pressure fluid is admitted to either side of the piston 36 in the cylinder 35 by means of the pipes 39 and 69 having suitable flexible connections interposed therein, such as the hose connections III in Fig. 2, to permit oscillation of the frame II. The pipes 39 and 96 have valves I29 and I36 to control the flow of pressure fluid to the cylinder 35 and may be of any suitable type, their purpose being to form a means of adjusting the speed of action of the piston 38 in said cylinder 35. The pipes 39 and 69 are connected to the valve 62 which is of a suitable type and in this case is mounted on the floor level by means of the brackets 63 and is designed to be actuated by the operator's foot. The valve embodiment 32 consists of a casing with the plates 93 bolted thereto. The cylinder 45, shown in Figs. 3 to 5, fitting in the casing, is adapted to move about its axis, and said casing 62 has four openings spaced substantially 90 apart about the circumference of the cylinder 65,-said openings communicating with the pipes 39, II], 66 and the exhaust port 81. The cylinder 65 has the passages 29 and 59 open ing at points substantially 90 apart on the circumference thereof, which are adapted to be brought in line with openings in the casing 42 connecting to pipes 39, 60, 96 and 97, thereby serving to direct the fiow of pressure fluid in said pipes. The cylinder 95 is mounted on the shaft i which projects through one of the plates 65 and has an arm 52 which carries the foot pedals 53 keyed thereto. A suitable tension spring such as spring 68 is fastened at the upper end thereof to plate 66 and at its lower extremity to the arm 52 and serves to return the arm 52 and pedals 53 and 56 to the position shown in Fig. 1, turning the cylinder 65 with the passages 69 and 59 to the neutral position shown in Fig. 3. Pipe 86 connects valve 62 with the storage tank 55 which may be of any suitable type. The tank 55 has a pressure regulating means which in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, has the valve 56 electrically operated by means of the battery 51,

In Figure 1, a tension spring I28 shown in dotted lines, has one end secured to the bag-holding member II and the opposite end secured to the cross member 32 of the frame II. The purpose of this spring I28 is to effect a quick release of the sack clamping member 21. When this spring I28 is not used it is necessary that the holding member I8 be entirely closed against the holding member II before the sack clamping member 21 will be released, whereas where the spring I28 is used it will move the holding member I! to the left and release the clamping member 21 as soon as the tension on the container B is released. When filling large containers, the spring I28 is not necessary as the weight of the filled container will be sufiicient to release it.

In Fig. 7 of the drawings, I have shown an alternateform of the means for regulating the pressure in the tank 55. Thus in lieu of the electrically operated solenoid valve 56 and the pressure switch III, a mechanical pressure regulating valve may be interposed in the pipe 64 in place of said valve 56. The embodiment shown consists of the casing 65 having the chamber 66 communicatin with the supply pipe 66 and the chamber 61 connected with the tank 55, said chambers 66 and GI being separated by a partition 68 having two ports adapted to be closed by the valve discs 69 and I6 carried by the stem II. These are so disposed that the pressure fluid in the chamber 66-acts to force the disc I0 downward with the same pressure acting to force the disc 69 upward thus balancing these forces and ofi'ering no restraint to either opening or closing of the valve due to the said forces. The stem II extends upward into the bonnet or chamber I2, formed by the casing I3 and the cap I I, and is secured to the center of the diaphragm I5 by the nut I6. The diaphragm I5 is clamped between the casing I3 and the cap I6 and is restrained from upward motion by the spring II which is in turn restrained at the upper end thereof by the adjustable part I8 of the cap III, which is adapted to be screwed down into the cap It to increase the compression of said spring II. The lower side of the diaphragm I5 is adapted to be acted upon by pressure fluid-in the chamber 61 through the passage I9 in the valve casing I3.

In Figure 8, there is shown another embodiment of the sack clamping member in which the numeral I26 designates a sack clamping member of somewhat different shape than the sack clamping members 21 and 28. The yieldable pad I2I is smaller than the pads 29 and 38 and engages with the bag over the beading 25 only. A

flat spring I25 is secured to the sack holding bers 83 and 84 by the bar 85 having the ends thereof V shaped to form a knife edge support for said frame 82 upon the rings 86 which are supported by the rods 81 from ceiling beams or other suitable stationary superposed structure. Blocks 88 of the frame 82 having V shaped recesses therein, are rigidly fastened in transverse alignment, one to each of the side frame members 83 and 84 and are adapted to support, the bag holding and expanding means, by the knife edges 89 carried by the auxiliary frame 99. The auxiliary frame 99 is composed of two short longitudinally disposed side members 9| to which one-half designated by reference character 92, is rigidly fastened and upon which the other half desig nated 93 of the hollow sleeve is adapted to slide in a longitudinal direction. The bag holding members 92 and 93 have the bosses 94 appended thereto, to which the levers 95 and the levers 96 are pivotally secured, the levers 95 having the clevices 91 which are pivotally connected to the levers 96. The levers 96 are con'- nected by the rod 98 at their outer extremities, said'rod 98 being adapted to be raised and lowered by the operator to thereby move the half 93 of the sleeve towards or away from the other half of the sleeve 92. The levers 95 are composed of hollow sections 99 into which the parts carrying.

the clevices 91 are adapted to slide, compression springs I99 being carried in said hollow parts 99 which tend to yieldably urge the clevis-partsl91 out of said hollow parts 99, said clevis parts 91 being limited in their motion relative to the hollow parts 99 by the pins I9I operating in slots I92. At one end of the auxiliary frame 99, the side members 9| thereof are spaced apart by the rod I93, which is adapted to be raised and hooked to the shaking means. This shaking means comprises the hook I94, the chain I95, the eccentric cam I98 and the motor I91. The side members 9| of said frame 99 have notches I98 adapted to engage the transverse member I99 of the main frame 82, when the rod I93 is hooked to said chain I95 during the shaking operation. The cross member I23 of the main frame 82 forms a stop for the opposite end of the auxiliary frame 99. The main frame 82 has the transverse rod II9 fitting in the side members 83 and 84, and extending through the slots III at the lower ends of the vertical rods II2, said rods II2 being fastened to ceiling beams or other suitable stationary structure. The slots I II thereby limit the motion of the frame 82 about its fulcrum 85. The frame 82 has at the opposite end from the bag supporting mechanism, a transverse cross member II3 with the knife edge section II4 supporting the weights II5Lwhich may be varied at will, and in addition the side member 83, has the graduated bar II6 fastened thereto, with the weight II1 slidably mounted thereon. A suitable dial H8 is supported from ceiling beams by the members I I9 and has the pointer I29 pivoted thereto and linked to the frame 82 by the member I2I which rests in the V block I22 fastened to the side member 83 of said frame 82.

In the use of the embodiment of this bag filling equipment as shown in Figs. 1 to 6, the mouth of the bag B is disposed about the holders I1 and I8 when they are in an initially contracted position as shown in Fig. 1, the gussets indicated by the dotted lines G being folded against the side wall of the bag B at the upper edge thereof. The surfaces of the pads 29 and 39 are so shaped at the upper portion thereof, that they are in close proximity to the holders 24 and 25 thereby sure fluid from tank 55 through the pipe 46 through the passage 59 of the valve 42, as shown in Fig. 4, to the pipe 39 and the cylinder 35, where it expands and moves the piston 34 to the right, the air on the opposite side of the piston 34 escaping through the pipe 49 and the passage 49 of the valve 42 and the pipe 41 to the atmosphere. As the piston 34 and the rod 33 move to I the right, the clamp 28 is turned about its pivot until the pad 30 is brought to a stop against the side of the bag B clamping it against the side of the holder I8. The rod 33 continues to move, sliding the holder I8 along the members I2 and I3 until the slack in the bag B is taken up. The

' bag B then pulls the holder I1 to the right which causes the clamp 21 to move about its pivot and clamp the bag B against'the holder I1. Since the rod 3| is fastened'to the stationary cross member 32, the piston 34 can move no further and is brought to a stop holding the bag B under tension. Since the pressure in tank 55 is maintained at a predetermined constant value by the pressure switch 6|, the pressure in the cylinder 34 is the same, and bag B is always held under the same tension for agiven setting of the knob 63 of the pressure switch 6|.

It is necessary that the tension with which the container B is held on the'holclers I1 and I8 be suflicient to prevent it from slipping ofi said holders I1 and I8 due to the weight of the said container B when filled, and also due to the oscillation thereof by the shaking means, and yet. the tension must not be so great that the material of the container B is ruptured. That the container B will be held with a predetermined force regardless of the size thereof is insured by the use of the pressure regulating means in combination with the cylinder 35, as an operating means. Once that the pressure in the tank 55 is set at the correct value by means of the adjusting screw 63 or 18, the force due to pressure fluid acting on the piston '34 will remain constant regardless of the variations of the position, due to change in bag size, at which the piston 34 is brought to a stop. This is an important advantage since containers which are ostensibly of a uniform size will nevertheless befound to vary somewhat and although a means may be provided for making adjustments for variations in bag size it is obviously not practical to adjust the machine for all these small variations which nevertheless are an important factor especially in the filling of paper containers which are relatively non-yielding in nature.

Material is now fed into the container B and the shaking means is started in order to oscillate the frame I I during the filling operation. When the proper amount of material has been fed into the container B, the feed is cut off and the shaking means stopped. The operator thenpresses the pedal 54 (Fig. 2) which turns the cylinder 45 of the valve 42 into the position shown in Fig. 5, thus bringing the passage 49 in line with pipes 46 and 49. This admits air to the right side of the piston 34 and moves the half I8 against 76 the half II turning the clamps 21 and 28 to their initial positions and releasing the bag B therefrom. A means such as the spring 48 returns the valve 42 .to the neutral position, as shown in Fig. 3, when the operator removes his foot from the pedal and the air pressure in the cylinder is released through the needle valve 38.

In the use, of the embodiments shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the mouth of the bag B is disposed about the lower part of the holders 92 and 93 in their initially contracted condition, and the handle 98 is lowered to move the holder 93 away from the holder 92 thus placing the mouth of the bag under tension, the beading I28 frictionally engaging the material of the bag B, and supporting it upon said holders 92 and 93 in a position to be filled. Material is now fed into the bag B from the hopper structure I disposed above, it being advantageous to first feed the greater portion into the bag rapidly and then add additional material in small amounts until the scale is balanced as indicated by the pointer I20 on the dial II8, the weights H and the weight II I having been adjusted to the predetermined setting desired. The operator now raises the bar I 03 of the auxiliary frame 80 and hooks it to the chain I05 of the shaker motor I01. The first effect of raising the bar I03 is to tilt the auxiliary frame 90 until the base of the notches I08 are brought to bear upon the cross member I09 of the frame 82. Upon further upward movement of the bar I03, the knife edges of the auxiliary frame are raised off the V blocks 88 of the main frame 82, and the side members 8| of the auxiliary frame 90 are brought to bear against the cross member I23 at the left end of the main frame 82. Since the chain I05 is of such a length that still further movement is required before the bar I03 may be hooked thereon, the main frame 82 is tilted until the bar H0 is brought to bear upon the base of the slots III, the frame 82 now being supported by the rods I I2, the knife edges of the bar 85 being lifted clear of the rings 86, thus permitting the frame 82 to be oscillated by the shaker motor I01 without injury to the knife edges 85 and 89, or their supports 85 and 88.

When the bag has been shaken for a sufficient length of time the motor I0! is stopped, the handle 88 is raised and the holder 83 is moved towards the holder 92, thereby the bag B is released.

Among the essentials of the invention are: the constant pressure feature permitting bags to be held with a readily adjustable predetermined uniform tension regardless of the size thereof; the arrangement of the arms 21 and 28 to clamp the gussets in folded condition; the operation of said clamping arms 21 and 28 and holding members I1 and I8 to hold the bag inside and outside; the sealing holder device with the rubber tube 80; the raising of the knife edges 85 and 89 off the supports so that scales may be oscillated; the manual method of operating the bag holder; the compensating of the manual holder for the size of the bag by the springs I00; the springs I25 for holding the empty bag when first applied to the holder; and the spring I28 for effecting quick release of bag B, when desired.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and the method of use of the above described embodiment of our invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A bag filling machine comprising two movable members for insertion into the mouth-of a bag, means for moving said members towards and away from one another to engage the opposite inner walls of a bag to hold the same when the members are moved away from one another and to release the bag when the members are moved towards one another, a clamp pivoted on each of said movable members for engaging the outer side of a bag to press the bag against the memher, and means for moving the clamps relatively to said movable members interconnected with the said means for moving the movable members.

2. A bag filling machine comprising movable members for insertion into the mouth of a bag, pivoted clamping members on each of said movable members for engaging and holding a bag, and means for moving said movable members towards and away from each other and simultaneously moving said clamping members towards and away from said movable members.

3. A bag filling machine comprising a frame, a pair of members for insertion into the mouth of a bag and mounted in said frame for relative movement, a bag holding clamp pivoted on each of said members, means for connecting one of said clamps to said frame whereby upon movement of the respective member the clamp is moved in and out of clamping position, means for moving said members relatively to one another connected to the clamp on the other of said members whereby on operation of said means said clamp is first moved into or out of clamping position, the first of said members being operated by the tension of a bag about said members when the second of said members is moved away from the first bysaid means for moving the members, the movement of the first of said members acting to operate the clamp thereof.

JACOB J. NEUMAN. HARRY G. NEUMAN. 

